His secret

Chapter 33

"You look just like him" was the first sentence she uttered to me two months after my father had passed away. She was sitting in the living room on the couch with a little photo album in her hands. I remember being scared at first sight of her sitting there because I didn't know it was her in the first place. I was expecting her to be in her room as usual. And then when she formed her first sentence I just stood there in the doorway, frozen in my place with my schoolbag dangling from my arm. I didn't know what to say. Hell, I didn't even know what she was talking about. 

"Your father," she clarifies after seeing the confusion on my face, and then she takes out a picture from the album and turns it to me so that I can see. It's a picture of me I think, except the boy in this picture looks a bit older than me and I can't even remember anyone taking that picture of me and nor do I recall that I owned any of those clothes that the boy in the picture is wearing. Confused, I look away from the picture and lock gazes with my mother that's staring at me in admiration. "He was a whole doppelganger of you when I first meet him at fifteen." And then it clicked inside my head, she's talking about my father, the boy in the picture is my father.

Her eyes leave mine and travel back to the picture in her hand that is now turned to her. She looks at it for a few more seconds before sighing and putting it back into the album. I couldn't help but notice how carefully she was putting it in as if it was of a very big value, the most valuable thing in her life. "Come here," she orders me while patting the empty space beside her. I remember getting excited yet very unsure and careful. It had been two whole months without her even speaking a word after all so I didn't know what to expect of her. So I approached her carefully and took the seat beside her on the couch. And her first instinct was to drag me into a suffocating hug and shower me with kisses on both of my cheeks. I was happy and hopeful about finally getting my mom back because I had really missed my parent's love and affectation that I grew up with. 

"I really missed you," she told me, and at that moment my excited heart fell into my stomach because I got a feeling she wasn't talking to me put to the person she wished I was. 

P.S. I'm done starting with "Dear notebook", it really makes me feel stupid and cringe. 

Miles

It's almost two o'clock in the morning when I finish reading, it took a while not because the chapter was long but because the water that filled my eyes made it hard to read. I put in the paper where I left off reading and set the book aside to wipe my eyes properly. At this point I don't even know exactly why I'm crying, I can't describe it precisely all I know is that I'm overwhelmed with what I'm reading. 

Wiping my eyes didn't help but it just made my face feel smeared so I get up and head out of my room towards the bathroom, confident that nobody will see my swollen eyes because they should be asleep. Well, I couldn't be any more wrong because as soon as I get out of my room and bump into, Gia Sophia which causes her to drop the glass of water she was holding in her hand. I instantly drop to my knees and grab the glass that thankfully is still a whole piece because of the rug. "I'm really, really sorry Gia Sophia, I didn't see you," I tell her as I try to dry her probably expensive rug. that is now wet because of me, with my shirtsleeve. 

"No it's okay sweetie, I usually don't come up here, my room is downstairs but I know that Alexis usually wakes up to drink water late at night so I thought why not bring him a glass so he has to go down to get one," she explains. "Please get up," she grabs me by the arm and drags me up off the floor. "Why are you still a... oh dear," her happy eyes turn into ones filled with pity as she strokes my cheek with the back of her fingers. "You were in there crying all by yourself?" I open my mouth to try denying it but she doesn't leave any space for that. "Come here," she tells me as she places a hand on the small of my back and leads me downstairs to the kitchen, and makes me sit on one of the chairs. "Now tell me, is it that stupid husband of yours?" she asks with arms crossed over her chest. I try to answer although I don't know what to say but yet again she doesn't give me room. "What a stupid question, of course, it is." Her arms fall to her sides as she comes closer to me and hugs me tightly. 

"Alexis always tells me that I'm way too up front and that makes people uncomfortable and I'd hate to make you uncomfortable so I'm not gonna start questioning you. But you should know that It may be the last time I'd do such a thing because I really can't just keep myself out of it without trying to help." 

"Thank you," I tell her, it's the only thing that comes to my mind after all of the things she said to me. I think I might have figured out where Alexis got his talkative personality from, Gia Sophia of course. But there talkative in very different ways. In difference to Alexis, Gia is very comfortable with people crying and she knows how to handle them. "No need to thank me, now drink this," she purs a glass of water from the can that sits on the table and hands it to me, "and then go to bed, and don't you dare cry about some idiot again." She kisses my forehead before she leaves the kitchen as if I'm no stranger to her at all.